NEWSTHE MURRAY STATE

M@TheMurrayStateNews @MurrayStateNews @TheMurrayStateNews @MurrayStateNewswww.TheNews.org Oct. 14, 2021 | Vol. 96, No. 7

PoliceBeat

NEWS

page 2

Anti-CRTlegislation

OPINION

page 4

Football drops first conference

game

SPORTS

page 5

Racer Band hosts FOC

LIFESTYLE

page 7

Jill SmithContributing Writer jsmith194@murraystate.edu

The vaccine incentive program is giving university officials an idea on how many students, faculty and staff are vaccinated on campus.

Executive Director of Market-ing and Communications Shawn Touney said the University expects the percentage rate to be high-er than what has been reported.

“As of October 1, 2021, 54.9% of faculty and staff have uploaded their vaccination cards and are fully vaccinated through our voluntari-ly uploaded information,” Touney said. “Our expected vaccination rate for students is 53.8% based on voluntarily uploaded information.”

Student Government Associa-

tion President Ian Puckett said he is happy more than half of students, faculty and staff got vaccinated.

“I was expecting more [vaccines reported], but I am optimistic that more individuals are vaccinat-ed than the numbers on myGate show,” Puckett said “This was just for the initiative program. I know there are more students vaccinated than are reported in this program.”

Some students are not sur-pr i sed by the percentage o f those vaccinated on campus.

Junior woodworking major Cross Berry said he isn’t surprised by the results, but expected the percent-age to be higher for one group.

“ [ I ’ m ] c o m p l e t e l y s u r -pr i sed that the facu l t y/s ta f f

isn’t much higher,” Berry said. “ I t ’s k i n d o f d i s appo i n t i n g that we ’re only around hal f-way instead of being near 75%.”

Puckett said he is hopeful that he will be able to reach his goal of an 80% vaccine rate on cam-pus by the end of the semester.

“I imagine the percentage is closer to 70%,” Puckett said. “I think we are still on track to hit 80% by the end of the semester.”

J un i o r p s yc ho log y Aman-da Harpole sa id she expect-ed the percentage to be lower.

“I thought it would be lower, that is shockingly high for me,” Harpole said. “I am disappointed because I feel like a lot of people think the numbers are lower than what they actually are and feel more comfortable going out.”

Dionte Berry/The NewsMurray State has the goal to be 80% vaccinated by the end of the Fall Semester.

see VACCINE, page 3

RACER VACCINERATE UPDATE

Halfway through the semester, around 54% of the campus body confirmed fully vaccinated

Raleigh HightowerContributing Writer rhightower@murraystate.edu

Murray S tate welcomed the Interdisciplinary Ear ly Child-h o o d E d u c a t i o n ( I E C E ) c lub back to campus this fa l l .

The IECE c lub, which was f o u n d e d i n 2 0 1 9 , h e l p s s t u -dents interested in ear ly child-hood educat ion f ind resourc-e s a n d p r o v i d e s a s u p p o r t group to ensure their success .

The IECE c lub is pr imar i l y dedicated to students who are part of the interdisciplinary ear-ly childhood education program.

Murray State’s IECE program is a CAEP-accredited program which prepares students to pro-v ide ea r l y in te r vent ion , c a re , and education for infants, tod-dlers, preschoolers and kinder-garten children with and with-out disabilities and their families.

The IECE program has re-c e n t l y b e e n r a n k e d # 5 4 i n t h e n a t i o n b y U n i v e r s i -t y HQ for the bes t and most a f f o r d a b l e I E C E d e g r e e .

The IECE club is led by fac-ulty advisor Mi-Hwa Park and pres ident Alexis For tner. The IECE club is also led by Fresh-man IECE majors Payton How-ard and Car ly Ogl ive, as wel l a s j un io r I ECE ma jo r s Ton i Marsha l l and Anna Higg ins .

Childhood education club gets revamp

Educators discuss race curriculum bills Raleigh HightowerContributing Writer rhightower@murraystate.edu

Murray State faculty members participated in a virtual panel dis-cussion on Critical Race Theo-ry and proposed Kentucky state legislation on Monday, Oct. 11.

The discussion panel was spon-sored by the Department of his-tory, the sociology program and the West Kentucky Nat ion-a l Organizat ion for Women.

The faculty members who par-ticipated in the discussion include Christine Lidner, assistant profes-sor of history; David Pizzo, profes-sor of history; Kevin Elliot, assistant professor of political science and

Jessica Evans, director of assessment and accreditation of the College of Education and Human Services.

Noraa Ransey, senior ethnic minority director of the Ken-tucky Education Association, was also among those who spoke on the panel. Ransey is a teach-er at North Calloway Elementa-ry School and was named “Teach-er of the Year” in 2020 by KEA.

The panelists felt the need to host a discussion about Critical Race Theory (CRT) because of the increasing amount of misin-formation and misinterpretation of CRT. The panelists also cited they felt an increased need for this dis-cussion following a series of col-umns about CRT that appeared in the Murray Ledger & Times.

“The central premise is that race is a social construct not a bi-ological fact, and as a social con-struct, race is often intertwined with politics,” Evans said. “CRT

examines law ’s role in perpet-uating or reproducing racism.”

see CRT, page 2

see IECE, page 2

Screen capture of the panel on ZoomThe panelists plan to have another webinar about Critical Race Theory in January.

News2 Oct. 14, 2021

Colton Colglazier/The News

Police Beat is compiled with material from the Murray State Crime and Fire Log.

Not all dispatched calls are listed.

9:20 A.M.Main CampusPerson reported for having unlawful access to two computers. No criminal complaint received.

3:29 P.M.Sigma ChiRape reported and has been referred to off campus police jurisdiction for further investi-gation.

2:00 P.M.Various on-campus locationsStudent reported being stalked over the course of several months. Case is still open.

10:56 P.M.OnlinePerson reported receiving threatening mes-sages on social media. Investigation sus-pended, pending evidence.

10:44 P.M.Alpha Gamma Rho Harassment reported after a person making unwanted physical contact with another per-son. No criminal complaint received.

7:47 P.M.Elizabeth College Theft reported after a bicycle was said to be stolen, the investigation is still open.

1:51 A.M.University DrivePerson intoxicated in public and arrested.

10/10

10/5

10/5

9/20

9/23

9/26

9/27

9/29

10/3

12:05 A.M.Hester CollegeStudent reported for possession of drug paraphernalia and was referred to Title IX and the Housing Office for administrative action.

12:34 A.M.Elizabeth CollegeCriminal mischief reported after a flyer was damaged. The case is still open.

10/5

10/11 7:22 P.M.

Residential CollegeHarassment reported after a person en-gaged in several unwanted behaviors to-ward another person causing unease.

10:32 A.M.Heritage Hall Parking LotUnknown vehicle struck an unattended vehi-cle causing damage. Driver failed to notify the owner of the damage.

“I wanted to make sure that the program is doing something this year and to help get more stu-dents into the major because ear-ly childhood education is such a high-need field right now. I want to see the program succeed and get to the same size as, for ex-ample, agriculture,” Fortner said.

Fortner joined the IECE club in March of 2020, only a few day s pr ior to Murray S ta te ’s transit ion to vir tual learning.

Another goal of the IECE club is to connect students across the study of early childhood educa-tion and give them a community of other like-minded individuals.

“I personally decided to join so that I could surround my-self with people who are just as passionate about helping kids a s I am, ” Car l y Ogl i ve s a id .

IECE members said they have found the ability to make friends within their major and the con-nec t ion the IECE c lub pro-vides to students studying IECE on o the r c ampuses va luab l e .

The IECE club bolsters a wide, diverse membership. Members of the IECE club include stu-dents from several Murray State campuses and current teachers. In order to make attendance and

information convenient for all members, the IECE club hosts monthly Zoom meet ings and sends out a newsletter to members.

This semester, the IECE club wi l l host an event ca l led the “Work of Children Gallery.” The event will feature works of art from local preschools. The art work wil l feature descr iptions about the change in developmen-tal domains children experience.

The gallery will launch on Nov. 16. at 5 p.m. and will remain open for viewing until Nov. 19 at 12 p.m. Assistant professor Jessica Branch is the main organizer of the event.

This event will not only feature the work teachers do in the class-room, but it also will serve as a fundraiser for the IECE club. A photographer will be present on launch night to take family por-traits, which will cost $5, with the proceeds going to the IECE club.

P r o s p e c t i v e s t u d e n t s w h o wish to connect with the IECE c lub c an do so by fo l lowing the IECE club instagram page, msu_iece.club, or by contacting a member of the executive board.

To support the IECE club and learn more about the develop-ment preschool age children ex-perience, visit the Work of Chil-dren Gallery at the Alexander Hall Atrium from Nov. 16-19.

IECE, from page 1

Pizzo explained that CRT is a form of legal scholarship that ex-amines what has become to be known as “systemic” or “struc-tura l ” rac i sm. The term “sys-temic racism” refers to a form of racism embedded in the current and former laws of our nation.

After providing an over view o f wh a t CRT i s , t h e pane l -ists discussed two prefiled bills, Bill 60 and Bill 69, that will ap-pear dur ing the next se s s ion of the Kentucky L egis la ture .

Bill 60 would ensure that no public school or public charter school offers any classroom in-struction or discussion that in-corporates designated concepts related to race, sex and religion. BR 69 is very similar to Bill 60; however, the panelists said Bill 69 is a more “far reaching” bill.

Teaching content found in viola-tion of the bill would be subjected to disciplinary action and schools may be fined up to $5,000 a day until the violation is addressed.

“ You wou ldn’t know i f you were in v io la t ion of the law ; you wouldn’t know if your job was on the l ine, ” sa id El l iot .

Ransey said the proposed leg-i s l a t ion would severe l y l imi t the control that educators have over their curr iculum. Panel-ists also said these bills would f r e e z e d i s c u s s i o n o n m a n y top ic s in tegra l to educat ion .

“ We do not need legis lators telling us what to do and man-dating our classrooms,” Ransey said. “I cannot tell you the last t ime I saw a legis lator in my c l a s s room o r in my s c hoo l . ”

Pizzo, who teaches classes about the Holocaust, various historical genocides and Nazi Germany, said that this bill would make teaching some of his classes very difficult.

Pizzo also criticized the bill for ef-fectively weaponizing school children to enforce curriculum that complies with the bill. The enforcement of Bills 60 and 69 would rely on parents and guardians reporting misconduct to the Kentucky Attorney General.

“This is all part of a coordinated ef-fort to undermine democracy and is also a distraction from very pressing issues in our democracy,” said Evans.

As the discussion came to a c lose, the panel ists each gave a “takeaway ” from the discus-sion. Evans warned that legisla-tion like this only serves to pro-voke anger and confusion while si lently attacking free speech.

Ransey expres sed her f r us-tration with local representa-tives. Elliot said lawmakers do not know what is best for cur-riculum and are holding a sword above the heads of educators. Piz-zo urged attendees to pursue ad-vocacy to protect the educators.

The panelists are considering hosting a second discussion panel on this topic sometime in January, but have not set an official date.

Photo courtesy of IECE club instagramSome of the club’s officers and members took pictures in front of Alexander Hall.

CRT, from page 1

We do not need

legislators telling us what to do and mandating our

classrooms. I cannot tell you the last time I saw a legislator in

my classroom or in my school.

— Noraa Ransey, senior ethnic minority director of the Kentucky Education

Association.

3Oct. 14, 2021 News

The News Reviews: ‘Untourable Album’Dionte BerryNews Editordberry11@murraystate.edu

The dreamy indie pop subgenre that put Men I Trust on the map continues to grow as the band most recently released its fifth album, “Untourable Album.”

Men I Trust rose into the music scene as a duo of Jessy Caron and Dragos Chiriac. Their first album was their 2014 self-titled album featuring heavy synths and alterna-tive pop undertones.

In 2016, the band solidified its sound when they recruited guitarist and vocalist Emma Proulx.

“Untourable Album” was re-leased on Aug. 25, 2021, and was live streamed on YouTube the day before.

The 13-track album carries the traditional dream pop sound of the band while mingling with funk elements. In order, the tracks cul-tivate a calm atmosphere making for a harmonious 37-minute play through.

The track “Organon” starts the listener’s journey. From soft synths to warped instrumentals this track is subtle and a great way to intro-duce the album. Proulx’s vocals are soft and breathy and really drives the dreaminess as if this song is meant to transport the listener to the fantasy landscape where Men I Trust lives.

“Oh Dove” starts with a synth sequence, along with bass and drums. The synth sequence breaks and Proulx’s vocals continue the song, with synths sprinkled throughout the song.

Following Proulx’s vocals is an-other synth sequence, but instead of her vocals returning listeners are met with a vocoded voice. The voice almost seems to be a response to Proulx’s bittersweet lyrics, which come back and the song is finished by fluttering keys.

“Sugar” is one of the more upbeat tracks on the album. Proulx’s vocals are backed by drums and a strong bass with a hint of funk. Com-pared to other tracks on the albums

Proulx’s vocals come through more so at the forefront.

The production of “Sugar” is more simple and less dreamy com-pared to other tracks such as “Or-ganon.” Overall, the song creates a smooth evening car ride with the windows down kind of vibe.

“Sorbitol” starts with rounded synths and sharp drums that seem to escape the rest of the warped landscape of the song. Proulx’s lyr-ics seem to reflect on her past and in the end she concludes by say-ing, “Alas I don’t know about your past,” which may be referring to a possible lover.

“Tree Among Shrubs” comes in with a sunny guitar and a faster beat than most of the other songs. Along with the guitar, Proulx’s vo-cals are layered and it just creates a summery scene.

“Before Dawn” starts with a light sharp drum that is joined by wa-vering synths. This song feels as though Proulx is whispering to the listener, with the way her voice hides behind the instrumentals. With this element the song feels heavy and mysterious.

“Serenade of Water” breaks the anonymity of “Before Dawn” and is far more outward. The light drum is back with a constant synth and little twinkles of synths around the chorus. “Go slow on me, slow on me” makes for a catchy chorus.

“5am Waltz” takes the listener back to the foggy territory that was in “Before Dawn” with a droning bass and drum intro. This short track feels looming until Proulx comes in towards the end. As her voice comes in there’s a change in the instrumental making it lighter and more breathable.

“Always Lone” brings back the funky bass which strums over a wavy synth. Proulx’s lyrics describe a space where it seems as though someone grows cold towards her, but she still cares about them.

“Ante Meridiem” comes in with a clear almost folk like acoustic gui-tar over the reminiscent wavy back-ground synth. Compared to the other songs, Proulx does not sing,

but delivers the lyrics like spoken poetry.

This track stands out for being a little more experiential for Men I Trust.“Lifelong Song” opens with electric guitar and deep synth. During the chorus Proulx’s vocals are paralleled by the guitar.

“Shoulders” starts with the sound of rain and is joined by drums and acoustic guitar. This pairs well with the album cover, which is a picture of two children in the rain by pho-tographer Lynn Goldsmith.

The final track,“Beluga,” is in-strumental and calm with synth, piano and the soft tapping of cym-bals. It feels like the ending credits to a movie, a great way to end the album.

Overall, the album is well pro-duced, harmonious and calm, which gives the album a clear vision.

Men I Trust seem to put an em-phasis on creating an energy rather than a story with their lyrics.

My favorite track is “Lifelong Song.” I like that it shakes up the usage of synth and guitar, and how

the guitar works with Proulx’s voice and picks up at the chorus.

Although the album comes across as harmonious, it comes close to monotonous. Many songs start similarly with long instru-mentals of bass, synth and drums as the listener waits for Proulx’s soft voice, and after a while it be-comes boring.

Many songs also end similar-ly. “Shoulders,” “Lifelong Song,” “Always Lone,” “5am Waltz and “Serenade of Water” all end with a pattern of repeating lyrics.

Overall, most of the lyrics feel like they aren’t really reaching for anything, just mostly vague senti-ments that sound pretty.

This is an album I can vibe to, listen to while I study and listen to in the car with my windows down during sunset; however I don’t see much more depth to it then that.

“Untourable Album” by Men I Trust is a 6.5 out of 10. It’s pret-ty for the ears and well produced, but lacks a certain depth and va-riety I crave in music.

Photo courtesy of menitrust.bandcamp.comThe album cover photo is from 1984 and was taken by Lynn Goldsmith.

Touney said several student or-ganizations have met the 80% goal.

“We are very proud of many of our residential colleges, athlet-ics teams and student organiza-tions, which have exceeded these vaccination rates,” Touney said.

In addition to athletics reaching an 80% vaccination rate, Puckett said several organizations on cam-pus are close to meeting that goal.

“My fraternity is around 73% and I’ve heard others say they are in the 75-80% range,” Puckett said.

Two Kentucky universities have announced plans to increase their vaccination rate on their campuses.

Eas te rn Kentucky Unive r-s i t y ’s Facu l t y Senate passed a resolution on Oct. 4 to in-s t i t u t e a v a c c i n e m a n d a t e .

“Be it therefore resolved, that the Administration of Eastern Ken-tucky University will impose a mandate requiring proof of vacci-nation against COVID-19 for all faculty, staff and students,” accord-ing to Eastern Progress Newspaper.

The University of Kentucky announced on Sept . 20 that 85.4% of their students, fac-ulty and staff are vaccinated.

UK is looking into implementing a COVID-19 vaccine for all stu-dents, faculty and staff according to a release from the UK Informa-tion Technology Services Office.

“Over 2,300 people signed an open letter calling on the UK

administration to implement a vac-cine requirement. On Monday, the university senate passed a resolu-tion asking for a vaccine require-ment on campus,” according to UK Information Technology Services.

The University of Kentucky is re-quiring all unvaccinated students, faculty and staff to get tested weekly.

Once individuals have been ful-ly vaccinated and have submitted documentation to prove their vac-cination status, they are no lon-ger required to get tested weekly.

S o m e M u r r a y S t a t e s t u -dents said the University would benefi t f rom weekly tes t ing.

Senior literature major Elaina Gilley said she would like to see a vaccine mandate on campus.

“I would personally feel a lot safer if that policy was in place,” Gilley

said. “My sister’s school, [Univer-sity of Illinois], also employs this policy and it not only was relatively well received, but it made COVID numbers drop s igni f icant l y. ”

Puckett said he is proud of stu-dents, faculty and staff, but is dis-appointed he has not been able to reach his goal of 80% vaccinated.

“I set this goal, and we hav-en’t been able to reach it yet so that ’s disappointing,” Puckett said. “We’ve done all that we can do so far, and we will continue to do all that we can to reach this goal. I am very proud of our stu-dents, faculty and staff as a whole.”

Touney said vaccines are still being offered at MSU Health Ser vices and other locations.

“We have had regular vacci-nation clinics this semester with

details on additional clinics forth-coming,” Touney sa id. “Also, COVID-19 vaccinations are avail-able daily at MSU Health Services and at multiple other locations.”

Vaccines clinics are being held Oct. 14 and Nov. 10 at the Cur-ris Center from 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Puckett said he and the Uni-versity will continue to encour-age people to get vaccinated.

“I really wish that we were high-er at this point in the semester, but that ’s just the way it is,” Puckett said. We’re going to keep pushing and we’re going to keep encourag-ing and hopefully we can get closer to 80% by the end of the semester.”

As of right now, the Universi-ty will not require weekly test-ing for unvaccinated individuals on campus or a vaccine mandate.

see VACCINE, page 3

Dionte Berry/The NewsOther Kentucky campuses have implemented mandatory COVID-19 and vaccines while Murray State does neither.

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Our ViewKentucky legislators try to ban race education in classrooms

Critical race theory (CRT) is a term that has been tossed around, misdefined and has

made its way into the mouths of Kentucky legislators.

States such as Texas and Ten-nessee already have passed bills that limit the teaching of “critical race theory” and Kentucky may be next.

Bills 60 and 69 are prefiled for the 2022 Kentucky General As-sembly and, if passed, will prohibit teachings on critical race theory in K-12 schools and colleges. But, after reading the bills, it seems as though the legislators sponsoring the bill have no solid understanding of what critical race theory is.

The term “critical race theory” is young and was coined by American lawyer and legal scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. According to Crenshaw, CRT denotes that law is not colorblind, there is an inter-section of law and race and where people of color are disadvantaged by the justice systems.

The previously mentioned bills don’t mention critical race theory, but instead propose an erasure of teach-ings about race and racism which make up American society and history.

Under Bill 60, K-12 schools are not allowed to promote the follow-ing concepts:

• One race or sex is not so-cietally superior than the other

• An individual should not feel discomfort on account of something their race did

• The existence of racism in Kentucky or the United States

• Stereotypes being used as a form of oppression

• Teachers should not promote the overthrow of the govern-ment.

On the surface, some of the provi-sions don’t sound bad, but there are some where it is apparent that the government is trying to hinder what teachers can teach.

If a teacher is found to have vio-lated any of the terms, the Attorney General will order the Department of Education to withhold $5,000 from the schools allotment every day until the Attorney General can find a solution to the problem.

Bill 69 follows the same format but is also extended to colleges, and universities.

What is most interesting about the bills is that neither of them talk about CRT. All they do is restrict educators from being able to effectively do their jobs with the use of overwhelming conse-quences.

There is so much wrong with these bills, and the implications they have on limiting educa-tion.

First, race and racism make up huge swaths of history and the world we see today. Racism is in the roots of America. There has never been a day since the found-ing of this nation where racist ideologies were not apparent.

History is not colorblind and it should not be taught as such.

Second, it’s obvious that law makers are incompetent in un-derstanding what CRT really is. Despite this, they are still making a law on what they think CRT is. Time and time again, we see the government try and regulate something they do not under-stand.

Rep. Matt Lockett R-Nicholas-ville, the sponsor of Bill 69, spoke to Kentucky Today on why CRT is the enemy.

“Those who subscribe to critical race theory are more interested in labeling people, dividing them into categories and pitting them

against each other than they are actually addressing important is-sues like racism,” Lockett said. “At the heart of this is a simple ques-tion: should taxpayer resources be used to promote a political nar-rative that teaches one person is inherently superior to another?”

Where does he mention the intersection of law and race, or the way the law system is built against people of color? These are the founding concepts of CRT.

Third, why are a group of white people telling the public when and how race can be talked about? All of the sponsors for Bills 60 and 69 are white. This group of people have a limited perspective because of this and can’t fully grasp the impact of one’s race on their life.

These legislators are ignorant enough to believe that if we stop talking about race, the problem of racism will fix itself. This belief also comes from a place of privi-lege where white people are seen

as the societal default. They seem to be extremely far

removed from discussions of race to believe that active ignorance would be at all beneficial to America.

Lastly, denouncing CRT is a guise by the political right to hin-der people from learning about the truth of America to make it easier for them to gather peo-ple in their pools of right wing ignorance. It’s sad to see white politicians take a term coined by a black woman meant to aid conversations about law and race and demonize it. This is a govern-ment-level scale of misinforma-tion and creates a dark route for where our nation may go.

Once again, we see inept politi-cians in their bubbles of privilege and limited perspectives create laws on matters they don’t un-derstand. We wish we could say we are surprised and could say that we don’t expect it to happen again in the future.

Cade Utterback/The News

5Oct. 14, 2021 SportS

Jakob MilaniSports Editorjmilani@murraystate.edu

Following a big win over Eastern Il-linois, the Murray State football team suffered a 48-24 loss in their first con-ference game of the season against UT Martin on Saturday, Oct. 9.

Heading into the game, the Racers led the OVC in points al-lowed with 18 points-per-game allowed through their first four games. UT Martin scored 20 points in the first 16:10 of the game.

Head Coach Dean Hood said af-ter the game the Racers’ play in the first half was “borderline absurd.”

The Skyhawks started with the ball and made quick work of the Racers’ defense. On the first play, graduate quarterback Keon Howard com-pleted a deep 34-yard pass to grad-uate tight end Rodney Williams that moved the ball up to Murray State’s 41 yard line. The very next play, se-nior running back Logan Peyton rushed for a 20-yard gain, putting the ball at the Murray State 21 yard line.

Three plays later, freshman running back Zak Wallace rushed for a 13-yard touchdown. The Skyhawks attempt-ed a two-point conversion but How-ard’s pass fell incomplete, making it a 6-0 game in favor of the Skyhawks.

Murray State’s first drive began slow and methodical, with short runs up the middle and quick pass-es from junior quarterback Preston Rice. As the Racers crossed mid-field, Rice found freshman running back Demonta Witherspoon for a 13-ard gain that moved the Racers up to the UT Martin 29 yard line.

A roughing the passer call against the Skyhawks moved the Racers up to the UT Martin 10 yard line, mak-ing it first and goal for the Racers. The Skyhawks defense held the Racers out of the end zone, though, forcing a 24-yard field goal from junior kick-er Aaron Baum to make the score 6-3 with 7:11 left in the first quarter.

The Skyhawks didn’t slow down once they got the ball back as Peyton took a run for 12 yards and Howard took one for 15 yards. Later on in the

drive on fourth down and 15 yards to go, Howard found junior wide receiver Colton Dowell for a 28 yard pass. That pass set up a six-yard touchdown run from freshman running back Jordan Castleberry to make it a 13-3 game.

After holding the Racers to a punt on the next drive, the Sky-hawks ended the first quarter with a 49-yard pass from Howard to Dowell to move the ball all the way up to Murray State’s 15 yard line.

The Skyhawks continued their drive in the second quarter and quickly got into the end zone with a one-yard rush from Wallace on just the third play of the quarter. With the touchdown, the Skyhawks took a 20-3 lead over the Racers with 13:50 left in the first half.

The Racers next drive didn’t last long as on the very first play, Rice threw an interception to freshman linebacker Tevin Shipp, who re-turned the pick for a touchdown, scoring just 20 seconds after their last touchdown. With the point-af-ter attempt up and through the up-rights, the Skyhawks led the Racers 27-3 with 13:30 left in the first half.

Following the interception, the Racers failed to get a first down on their next drive and were forced to punt the ball back to the Sky-hawks. With the ball back in their hands, the Skyhawks capitalized once more with a 28-yard rush from Howard to start the drive and a 16-yard rush from Peyton then next play. Just three plays later, Howard rushed for a 10-yard touchdown to stretch the Skyhawks’ lead to 34-3.

The Racers next drive resulted in a turnover on downs after With-erspoon was unable to pick up the first down on a fourth and one rush, allowing the Skyhawks to have an-other chance at the end zone. The Skyhawks had great field position, starting on the Murray State 45 yard line and they moved the ball all the way up to the Murray State 13 yard line. The Racers defense held strong, though and forced a field goal attempt. The Racers managed to block the kick though and stopped the bleeding for a little longer.

Following the blocked field goal,

neither team was able to do much on offense for the rest of the first half, with both teams punting on the fol-lowing possessions. The two teams headed to the locker rooms at half-time with the Skyhawks up 34-3.

“We couldn’t move the ball, couldn’t stop them. They had a good game plan offensively. De-fensively, they really did a nice job, they did a great job executing. Al-most flawless. Their quarterback was just on fire… First half, we just couldn’t get anything going really. “

The Racers started the second half with the ball, but that quickly changed when Rice’s first pass was intercepted by graduate linebacker John Ford, who took the pick all the way up to the Murray State seven yard line. From there, it took just three plays for the Skyhawks to score as Howard threw a two yard pass to freshman wide re-ceiver Zoe Roberts to take a 41-3 lead with 13:17 left in the third quarter.

After the teams traded punts, the Racers took over with freshman quarterback DJ Williams under cen-ter. Williams went to work for the Racers, taking a third and 12 rush up for 10 yards, then completing a pass on fourth down and two to go to Witherspoon for a 25-yard gain. This moved the Racers into field goal territory at the UT Martin 17 yard line. Three plays later, Williams took off for a seven-yard touchdown rush, the first touchdown for the Racers in the game. This made the score 41-10 5:28 left in the third quarter.

The Racers opted for an on-side kick following the touchdown which they recovered, giving the Racers another opportunity to score in the third quarter. Williams con-tinued to put in work, starting the drive with an 11-yard rush, then completing a 16-yard pass to fresh-man tight end Jake Saathoff later on the drive. Witherspoon capped off the drive with a two-yard rush-ing touchdown to make it a 41-17 game heading into the fourth quarter.

Howard kept the Skyhawks going though as he kept the ball moving with an 11-yard rush to start the fourth and final quarter. Wallace con-

tributed two plays later with a 21-yard rush up to the Murray State 21 yard line. The Skyhawks inched closer and closer to the end zone until Wallace broke through for a four-yard rushing touchdown to give the Skyhawks a 48-17 lead with 9:19 left in the game.

Murray State flipped the field on the first play of their next drive with a 51-yard pass from Williams to se-nior wide receiver Malik Honeycutt that moved the ball all the way up to the UT Martin 17 yard line. Follow-ing back to back penalties against the Skyhawks, the Racers found them-selves at first and goal from the two yard line. Despite their best efforts, the Racers were unable to score on the drive and turned the ball over on downs at the UT Martin one yard line.

The Racers defense forced the Sky-hawks to punt on their following drive, giving the Racers a chance at one more score in the game. Mur-ray State went all out in their last drive, running just one run play and the rest all pass plays. The Rac-ers started the drive going to fourth down and four before Williams found Honeycutt for a 15-yard gain. Williams then completed an eight yard pass to Saathoff, then rushed for eight yards on the next play.

Williams then found Wither-spoon open downfield for a 26-yard gain, putting the Racers at the UT Martin seven yard line. Then on second and goal, Williams found freshman wide receiver Tay-lor Shields in the end zone for the touchdown, making the score 48-24 with just 3:17 left to go in the game.

The Racers’ onside kick was quickly recovered by the Sky-hawks who ran the clock out to end the game. The Skyhawks defeat-ed the Racers by a score of 48-24.

“We just didn’t play very well over-all,” Hood said. “Everyone’s been complaining about us being a first half team so we thought we’d flip the script and do well in the second half. Want to keep the fans happy.”

Murray State’s next game is a non-conference away game against the SEMO Redbirds. The game is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 16.

Football drops first conference game of fallPhoto courtesy of Dave Winder/Racer Athletics

Freshman quarterback DJ Williams completed 13 of his 22 pass attempts for 182 yards and a touchdown in the Racers loss to UT Martin.

Rachel Essner Staff Writerressner1@murraystate.edu

The Murray State soccer team broke their .500 record, increas-ing to 7-6 overall as they returned home to take on Morehead State University on Sunday, Oct. 10.

The game stayed scoreless un-til the last two minutes of the second half, when freshman de-fender Morgan Bodker and grad-uate forward Rebecca Kubin double assisted a shot from soph-omore forward Chloe Barnt-house, giving the Racers the 1-0 lead and win over the Eagles.

Murray State finished with

14 shots and five shots on goal with Barnthouse leading with five shots and Kubin finish-ing with three. The Racers shot 11 corner kicks while More-head counted one. Meanwhile, the Eagles had nine fouls com-pared to the Racers’ five fouls.

Barnthouse collected her fourth goal of the season to tie with ju-nior midfielder Lauren Payne at the top of the Racers’ scoring list this season. Bodker and Kubin tallied their fifth and third re-spective assists on the season.

Junior goalkeeper Jenna Vil-lacres counted her second shut-out of the season, saving all four shots on goal from the Eagles

while the defenders, sophomore Camille Barber, sophomore Au-drey Henry, junior Saraya Young and graduate Izzy Heckman contributed in keeping the to-tal shots from the Eagles to five.

“That back four is the back four that went 9-1 in the spring,” said Head Coach Matt Lodge. “So we know they play well together, and they are well rehearsed in what they do. I thought Jenna held ev-erything clean and we didn’t really look like we were going to concede.”

The Racers will remain at Cutchin Field as they take on Southern Illinois Univer-sity Edwardsville on Thurs-day, October 14, at 3 p.m.

Soccer improves to 7- 6 with win over Morehead St.

SportS6 Oct. 14, 2021

Rachel EssnerStaff Writerressner1@murraystate.edu

The Murray State volleyball team dropped two games after travel-ing to Martin, Tennessee, to take on the University of Tennessee at Martin in a two-game series on Fri-day, Oct. 8, and Saturday, Oct. 9, making their record 8-8 overall.

GameOne The Skyhawks jumped out to an

early lead in the first set with a 7-1 run. However, the Racers fought back, tying the score at 12 with kills from freshman outside hitter Brooke Lynn Watts, senior middle block-er Kolby McClelland and fresh-man outside hitter Alexa Harris. UT Martin pulled ahead again at 17-14, but after tying the score at 19, the Racers went on a 6-1 run with a kill from Harris closing out the set 25-20.

The teams went back-and-forth in the second set, staying within two points of each other. With the Racers leading 20-18, the Skyhawks were able to score six straight points to lead 24-20 until ultimately taking the set 25-21.

UT Martin carried their momen-

tum into the third set, rattling off seven straight points to lead 11-2. The Racers were never able to gain control, only coming within four points of the Skyhawks at 17-13. The Skyhawks ended the set 25-20 for a 2-1 lead over the Racers.

Murray State seized control in the fourth set as they took the ear-ly 8-2 lead with kills from sopho-more outside hitter Jayla Holcombe, sophomore middle blocker Darci Metzger and Watts and a block from Watts and McClelland. The Racers kept their momentum, furthering their lead and eventually closing out the set with a kill from junior out-side hitter Alysha Smith at 25-15.

The Skyhawks took over in the fifth set as they gained the lead at 7-1. The teams then traded points until UT Martin scored four straight points to take the set 15-8 and the game 3-2.

Watts led the offense with 20 kills followed by Metzger with a sea-son-high 15 kills and Harris with 13.

Senior libero Becca Fernandez led the defense with 24 digs while sopho-more defensive specialist Dahlia Mill-er counted 21. Watts and Harris each collected 10 digs for their respective

third and first career double-doubles. Freshman setter Bailey DeMier fin-ished with 53 assists and seven digs.

GameTwoThe Skyhawks bested the Rac-

ers in the second game of the se-ries, finishing the game in four sets.

After leading 2-1 in the first set, the Racers were never able to take the lead over the Skyhawks. The teams traded points while Murray State stayed with-in two points of the Skyhawks, until a 5-2 lead put UT Martin ahead 14-9. The Racers were able to fight back to come within two points again at 20-18, but three straight points closed out the set with the Skyhawks ahead 25-20.

With a 5-1 run, UT Martin led 7-3 to begin the second set. They advanced their lead with five straight points to make the score 15-8 over the Racers. The Sky-

hawks used a kill to finish the set 25-16. The third set was a battle between the

teams, trading points until tying the score at 18. With kills from Watts and Metzger, the Racers took a 23-21 advantage. Two kills from Harris secured the set 25-23.

UT Martin kept control of the entire fourth set, never letting Murray State take the lead. A 6-1 run gave the Sky-hawks the lead at 20-13 before ending the set 25-17 and taking the game 3-1.

Harris and Metzger led the offense with 12 kills each while Watts counted 11.

Fernandez collected 22 digs to lead the defense while Harris had 13 for her second career double-double. De-Mier tallied 40 assists and eight digs.

The Racers return to Racer Are-na to take on Tennessee Tech Uni-versity on Friday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m.

Volleyball gets swept at home by UT Martin

Photo courtesy of Dave Winder/Racer AthleticsFreshman outside hitter Alexa Harris recorded 25 kills in the Racers two losses to UT Martin.

Jakob MilaniSports Editorjmilani@murraystate.edu

The Murray State Men’s and Wom-en’s basketball teams have announced their schedules for 2021-22 and the schedule includes some with both teams facing some big matchups.

The men’s season kicks off with three straight home games: Monday, Nov. 1, against the Brescia Universi-ty Bearcats; Tuesday, Nov. 9, against the Cumberland University Phoenix-es and Saturday, Nov. 13 against the Bellarmine University Knights. The Racers then travel to Normal, Illinois, to take on the Illinois State Univer-sity Redbirds on Tuesday, Nov. 16.

Following their first four games, the Racers will travel to Naples, Florida, to compete in the 2021 Na-ples Invitational. The Racers start the tournament against the Eastern Tennessee State University Buc-caneers on Monday, Nov. 22, at 4:30 p.m. The tournament contin-ues through Wednesday, Nov. 24.

The Racers return home on Mon-day, Nov. 29, to take on the Camp-bellsville University Tigers, then take on the Middle Tennessee State Uni-versity at home on Saturday, Dec. 4. Following a game at the University of Memphis Tigers on Saturday, Dec. 11, the Racers will play back-to-back home games, first against the Ten-nessee Wesleyan University Bulldogs on Tuesday, Dec. 14, then against the University of Tennessee at Chatta-nooga Mocs on Saturday, Dec. 18.

The Racers close out their non-con-ference schedule against their biggest opponent of the season when they travel to play the Auburn Univer-sity Tigers on Wednesday, Dec. 22.

The women’s team starts their season at home with an exhibition

game against the Trevecca Naza-rene University Trojans on Monday, Nov. 1. Their first official game takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 9, when they take on the Asbury University Ea-gles at the CFSB Center in Murray.

The Racers then travel to take on the Missouri University Tigers on Thursday, Nov. 11. On Monday, Nov. 15, the Racers return home to take on the University of the Cumber-lands Patriots, then travel to play Chattanooga on Friday, Nov. 19.

The Racers continue their roadtrip with a stop at Mississippi Valley State University to take on the Delta Dev-ils on Tuesday, Nov 23. The Racers return to the CFSB Center to take on the Alabama A&M Bulldogs on Saturday, Nov. 27, before heading back on the road to play the Univer-sity of Evansville Aces on Tuesday, Nov. 30, then the Samford Univer-sity Bulldogs on Saturday, Dec. 4.

The Racers then play back-to-back home games against the University of North Alabama Lions on Tuesday, Dec. 14, then the Lipscomb Univer-sity Bison on Saturday, Dec. 18. The Racers close out their non-conference schedule with a trip to Gainesville, Florida, to take on the University of Florida Gators on Tuesday, Dec. 21.

Both the men’s and women’s teams begin their conference schedule with a home game against the SEMO Red-birds on Thursday, Dec. 30. Their con-ference schedules are set to end with an away matchup against the Redbirds on Saturday, Feb. 26. The OVC tour-nament is currently set for Wednesday, March 2, through Friday, March 5.

WIth basketball less than a month away, fans now know what to ex-pect for the upcoming season, Time will tell how well the teams com-pete and whether or not they get a ticket to the madness in March.

Basketball announces 2021-22 schedule

Photo courtesy of Dave Winder/Racer AthleticsAs basketball season nears, the schedules for the Murray State men’s and women’s teams are officially here.

7Oct. 14, 2021 LifestyLe

Erinn FinleyStaff Writerefinley1@murraystate.edu

The new nonprofit lead-ership studies director at Murray State brings

skills developed through a diverse education, fundraising for a large organization and launching a fine arts institution.

Elise Kieffer, the new director of nonprofit leadership studies, chose to come to Murray State partially because of its proximity to her family and the community itself.

“When I visited, I just loved the closeness of the community and the University, not in geo-graphic proximity, but that the University is part of the commu-nity,” Kieffer said.

Kieffer said one of the things she brings to this program is a diverse background. She attended

a community college, a liberal arts college, an HBCU and an R1 school over the course of her education. Kieffer said the sub-ject matter she studied has been diverse as well.

“I think that gives me a unique perspective in my position here as the director of nonprofit leadership studies,” Kieffer said. “The way that I see the nonprofit sector I think is different than a lot of others in my position in other universities.”

Kieffer worked in the arts and culture sector and in humani-tarian aid. She did fundraising for a branch of an international company called Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and she founded a fine arts academy in a rural community. She has good relationship-building skills, which are important for her job, Kieffer said.

“I like meeting new people and

making connections and one of the best things that I can do is ‘oh, you should meet this person, you guys have a lot in common,’” Kieffer said. “‘You could work together on something.’”

Making connections and

relationship building also are im-portant as a director and adviser, since the job involves connecting students to appropriate depart-ments and internships.

Ava ChuppeContributing Writerachuppe@murraystate.edu

Murray High School won Grand Cham-pion at the first

Festival of Champions in two years on Sept. 25. Because of COVID-19 cancellations, Racer Band has been unable to host the event since 2019.

Thirteen high school march-ing bands from Kentucky and Tennessee performed for judges from across the nation.

Murray High School’s Tiger Band won Grand Champion with a score of 80.350. Fol-lowing Murray were Christian County (74.950) and Barren County (74.000).

Murray High won Best Mu-sic, Best General Effect, Best Marching, Best Brass, Best Woodwinds and Best Guard. Christian County won Best Percussion.

Freshman sociology major Carolyn Mollette, Racer Band member and Murray High School graduate, said it was gratifying to help put on the Festival of Champions after winning with the Tiger Band in 2019.

“It was really cool to be able to see the band—that I am an

alumni of—compete and win while also getting to perform for all of these people who want to continue music,” Mollette said.

In the preliminary rounds, Trigg County won first place in Class 2A. Murray High won first place in Class 3A. Barren County won first place in Class 4A. McCracken County won first place in Class 5A.

Other participating high schools included Ballard Me-morial, Todd County, Calloway County, Muhlenberg County, Hopkinsville, Marshall County, Madisonville-North Hopkins and Henry County. Racer Band also performed at the event.

Because the Festival of Cham-pions was cancelled in 2020, COVID-19 remains a concern, meaning precautions were taken to ensure the safety of com-petitors. Students followed the guidelines set by the Kentucky Education Association per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including wearing masks when indoors and using school transportation.

Director of University Bands Trae Blanco said it is important for the University to be able to host the event.

“I’d venture to guess that the Festival of Champions is the

single largest recruitment event on the campus of Murray State University,” Blanco said. “In one day, we brought nearly 1,000 high school students to campus, along with 1,500 spectators. They had the opportunity to interact with our excellent stu-dent leaders, faculty, world class adjudicators, and experience our campus life activities like Racer Band.”

Blanco said he is grateful for the efforts of Racer Band stu-dents to put on the Festival of Champions.

“We bring excellent students from across the Commonwealth

to experience one of the best parts of Murray State Universi-ty, and we are proud of the work our students do,” Blanco said. “We are grateful to University custodial staff for their help in managing the stadium, as well as Sodexo dining staff for their help with concession sales.”

Racer Band will host High School Band Day on Nov. 6, during which prospective stu-dents will watch the band per-form. On Nov. 11 and 12, Racer Band will perform at the Bands of America Grand National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Racer Band hosts first Festival of Champions

in two years

Photo courtesy of Christian County FacebookChristian County Colonel Band won Reserve Grand Champion and Best Percussion at the Festival of Champions on Sept. 25.

Photo courtesy of Liberty Guyette

Murray State sophomores Liberty Guyette and Allee Rudolph (right) pose for a picture at FOC.

New director discusses nonprofit, arts background

Photo courtesy of Elise Kieffer

Elise Kieffer, new leadership studies director, has worked in both the arts and the nonprofit sector.

see LEADERSHIP, page 8

8 Oct. 14, 2021LifestyLe

Good relationship building helps her connect students to internships and helps connect beneficial programs for students, Kieffer said.

People in academia tend to be very siloed, Kieffer said. They are all part of the university, but they also have a college, department and sometimes even a program. She said it can be beneficial to look outside one’s own depart-ment and get a reminder of good things happening in other pro-grams.

“I would rather connect a stu-dent to another program with an accent from a major in this field and a minor in NLS than just say ‘oh no, I need all the students to be mine,’” Kieffer said.

A primary goal for her is to increase the program’s visibility amongst students, Kieffer said.

“I think my predecessors really emphasized outreach to the community, which is wonderful, but I feel that that’s been estab-lished,” Kieffer said. “So now, I think that I want students to know we’re here and what we’re about.”

Kieffer teaches students about collaborations and partnerships, which are both parts of relation-ship building.

“I think a lot of times, at least in the nonprofit sector, proba-bly universally, but we approach things with ‘how can I fix this,’ but it ’s important to look at, ‘is someone else already trying to fix it and I can get on board and help,’” Kieffer said. “Or someone else is fixing the right side of the problem and I’m trying to fix the left side of the problem, maybe we should work together and fix the whole problem.”

Kieffer emphasizes the impor-tance of trying to counter the siloing that can happen in pro-grams, she said. She tells stu-dents to look outside themselves

and see if someone else is fixing the problem. She said sometimes no one is currently fixing an issue and someone has to start from the ground up, but it ’s still important to build partnerships with others in the community.

During Kieffer’s fundraising for the New York City branch of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, she worked with large donors and with planned donations from estates.

“There’s an expression in fundraising that ‘people give to people,’ and the idea being that I am much more likely to give of my time, talent and treasure to someone who I know, who I’ve developed trust with than I am to just write a check and put it in the mail to some random entity out there,” Kieffer said. “So my job was to build that relation-ship with donors where for good or bad or whatever, they would trust me with their money.”

This role meant that Kieffer

was the point of contact for many donors. She said she was the one who received both the criticism and the compliments.

When her first child was born, Kieffer decided to move from New York City to Burkesville, Kentucky. She moved to Ken-tucky for personal and familial reasons, but while she was there, she founded and directed the Burkesville Academy of Fine Arts.

This academy is a year-round interdisciplinary after-school program. These disciplines included music, theatre, dance and visual arts classes as well as camps and performances.

“I definitely saw that there was a need,” Kieffer said. “There was a void in the art opportunities for young people there, as there are in many small communities really. In addition to that, self-ishly as a mother knowing that my own children were getting to be near school age and I wanted

them to have that access also.” Kieffer started the academy

before her own children were old enough to participate. She said she started it for the community but gained tremendous bene-fit for her own children as they were able to spend their young years with extensive opportuni-ties to learn fine arts.

Besides her tasks as the non-profit leadership studies director, Kieffer is also teaching classes at Murray State. This semester, she is teaching Giving, Philanthropy and Grantmaking and The Non-profit Sector and Civil Society.

Kieffer said she is happy to be in the Murray community and part of the University.

“I’m really glad to be in Mur-ray,” Kieffer said. “I feel like it ’s a really good fit. So I’m really happy to be part of the Univer-sity here and I’ve felt very wel-comed.”

For more information, visit the NLS page on murraystate.edu.

LEADERSHIP, from page 7

Will GrovesContributing Writerwgroves@murraystate.edu

Move over Wendy Wil-liams: a new talk show host has arrived on the

scene. “Let’s Talk About It,” an Instagram live talk show hosted by junior journalism major Taylor Butler-Gilmore, offers discussions on topics like pop culture, politics and mental health.

Growing up in the small town of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Taylor Butler-Gilmore said she always dreamed of wanting to do it all. She went from wanting to be a pediatrician, to a dancer instructor, to a Back Yard Burgers employee, according to the Kentucky New Era.

It was not until the end of her sophomore year at Murray State that she finally decided her true calling in journalism.

She cites daytime television hosts like Ellen Degeneres and Wendy Williams as inspirations for her love of journalism.

“I wanted to be them,” But-ler-Gilmore said. “I wanted to sit in the chair or at the table and talk about everything.”

Inspired by these daytime talk show hosts, Butler-Gilmore began her own Instagram Live Talk show called “Let’s Talk About It.”

Butler-Gilmore’s Focus Area Manager Cydney Ahlberg met her through the TechKeyz Network Foundation, a youth and adoles-cent program for equipping young adults with essential educational, fine arts and wellness tactics. After

being interviewed on the eighth of season two of “Let’s Talk About It,” Ahlberg began working as the focus area manager.

“Taylor is the little sister that I never had growing up,” Ahlberg said. “We’ve grown so close in such a short amount of time.”

Her favorite memory of But-ler-Gilmore was when she in-terviewed gospel artists the Legendary Clark Sisters and their daughter and niece Kierra Sheard-Kelly.

“I am very proud to see Taylor interviewing legends with well thought-out questions and beam-ing with professionalism,” Ahlberg said.

Kaybreon Robertson, a watch-er of the show, said that Taylor calmed any doubts that Robertson may have had about pursuing a ca-reer in the entertainment industry

after being interviewed on episode 10 of season two.

“Often I get scared of this dream, feeling that it may be too big to accomplish,” Robertson said. “She probably doesn’t know how much it meant to me to be on her platform and share my experience.”

Butler-Gilmore said she hopes to move her talk show to an Apple or Spotify Podcast where she can shift

her focus to interviewing school-age children.

“They know more than we give them credit for,” Butler-Gilmore said. “They speak with honesty and purity because that is all they know.”

To watch her show “Let’s Talk About It,” visit @lets_.talkaboutit on Instagram on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.

Weekly Instagram Live offers student view on politics, culture

Photo courtesy of Elise KiefferElise Kieffer, new leadership studies director, fundraised for an international organization and founded a fine arts academy in a rural community.

Screenshot from Butler-Gilmore’s Instagram

Butler-Gilmore interviews Jelea Johnson about massage therapy on Aug. 25.

Taylor is the little

sister that I never had growing up. We’ve

grown so close in such a short amount of time.—Cydney Ahlberg, Taylor Butler-

Gilmore’s Focus Area Manager

Often I get scared of this

dream, feeling that it may be too big to accomplish.

She probably doesn’t know how much it meant

to me to be on her plat-form and share my expe-

rience.—Kaybreon Robertson, interviewee on

episode 10 of season two